Orange Bowl QBs take different roads to reach same goal

MIAMI (AP) _ So different, yet so similar. <br>Chris Weinke spent six years playing baseball before returning to college, and at the age of 28 he'll try to lead Florida State to a second straight national

Monday, January 1st 2001, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

MIAMI (AP) _ So different, yet so similar.
Chris Weinke spent six years playing baseball before returning to college, and at the age of 28 he'll try to lead Florida State to a second straight national championship in the Orange Bowl.

Josh Heupel, the son of a football coach, showed up at Oklahoma two years ago from junior college and revived the once-proud Sooners, who are looking for their seventh national title but first since 1985.

Weinke won the Heisman Trophy; Heupel was runner-up. Weinke led the nation in passing with 4,167 yards and threw for 33 touchdowns; Heupel led the nation with a 64.7 completion percentage. Weinke's from Minnesota, Heupel from South Dakota and both grew up rooting for the Minnesota Vikings.

The quarterbacks met recently on the postseason awards circuit and, according to Weinke, ``we got along fine. But when we see each other again, we'll be enemies.''

On Wednesday night, it's No. 1 Oklahoma (12-0) vs. No. 3 Florida State (11-1) in the Orange Bowl, the Bowl Championship Series' designated national title game.

The Seminoles are 12-point favorites, and the outcome rides on the right arm of Weinke and the left arm of Heupel.

``Weinke is our key,'' Florida State coach Bobby Bowden said. ``But he is no more valuable to us than Heupel is to Oklahoma. He is their key.''

During Sunday's media day at the Orange Bowl stadium, Bowden got a quick up-close look at Heupel when the two met for the first time as the Seminoles were leaving and the Sooners arriving.

``Hey, great to meet you son,'' Bowden said as they shook hands. Heupel smiled, and Bowden commented out of earshot: ``What a good lookin' kid.''

No arguments from Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops.

``Josh is the major reason why a program that may have been faltering is now 12-0 and competing for a national championship once again,'' Stoops said. ``He brought us to this point.''

The quarterbacks operate different style offenses with equally impressive results.

Weinke, at 6-foot-5 and 229 pounds, takes the drop-back, step-into-the-pocket approach and completed 61.7 percent of his passes. He had two 500-yard games, and in the Seminoles' only loss _ 27-24 to Miami on Oct. 7 _ threw for 496 yards despite a sore left ankle.

Heupel, 6-2 and 214 pounds, is the gritty, gutty kid with great touch on his arcing passes. He'll remain in the pocket as long as necessary, but can take off running for a first down, too.

Florida State leads the nation in total offense at 549 yards per game and ranks second in scoring (42.4 points); Oklahoma averages 429.2 yards and ranks seventh in scoring (39 ppg). The Seminoles beat the opposition by 32.1 points, the Sooners by 23.2.

``We've both been successful leading our offenses and we are the same style of quarterback _ we like to throw it,'' Weinke said. ``What it comes down to is we both know how to lead a football team and that's our biggest asset.

``One thing always said about him is he finds a way to get it done in a clutch situation. I think I've proven I've been able to get it done in those situations as well.''

Heupel simply says of Weinke: ``He's a great leader and a great player.''

Down the stretch, Weinke was the more efficient. Weinke had 11 TD passes and four interceptions in his final four games, Heupel five TD passes and nine picks in his. But Heupel always came up with plays to keep the Sooners undefeated.

In the Big 12 title game, Heupel overcame three interceptions with two TDs passing and another running for a 27-24 win over Kansas State; in the 35-31 comeback win at Texas A&M, he twice converted third-and-8s with runs to set up a late TD.

Weinke has a flair for delivering quickly after an opponent scores. After Georgia Tech went ahead of Florida State late in the third quarter, Weinke hit seven straight passes for 156 yards on two TD drives that gave the Seminoles a 26-21 win.

``This year has really helped his timing with receivers,'' Stoops said. ``He's throwing things before they come out of their breaks and the ball is right there. When he's in rhythm, he's very difficult to stop.''

Weinke was a high school All-American in 1990 and spent four days at Florida State before signing a $350,000 contract with the Toronto Blue Jays. He never made it to the majors, and went back to Tallahassee where Bowden saved a scholarship for him.

Weinke started in 1998 only because of Dan Kendra's season-ending knee injury. In his second game, he threw a school-record six interceptions in a loss to North Carolina State, then sustained a severe neck injury against Virginia late in the season. The Seminoles lost the title game to Tennessee in the Fiesta Bowl.

In '99, he guided Florida State to a perfect record and the school's second national title, and now has the Seminoles ready for another crown.

``That's been the mission all year, to get this championship,'' Weinke said.

Heupel grew up watching game films with his father, Ken. It showed, too. He threw for 2,471 yards as a senior in Aberdeen, S.D., and was the state's prep player of the year. Big-time schools did not recruit him, so he went to Weber State, where he was redshirted in '96 and played in four games in '97. Then it was on to Snow Junior College in Ephraim, Utah, where he threw for 2,308 yards and 28 TDs and was noticed by Mike Leach, the Sooners' newly hired offensive coordinator.

Heupel visited, watched a few videotapes of Tim Couch running Leach's wide-open offense at Kentucky and was sold on the Sooners.

In his first season at OU, Heupel threw for 3,460 yards and 30 TDs and led the Sooners to a 7-5 record and their first bowl game since 1994.